Auryn Quest is based on The Neverending Story, a novel by Michael Ende. The Warner Brothers movie based on the book came out next. Now the CD-ROM game comes from The Adventure Company and Dream Catcher. These people know good games.

The Story

Fantasia, the game’s setting, is a graphically beautiful and richly detailed surrealistic world. When you start your Quest there is a narrator and a tutorial. The Magical and Mystical Auryn has been taken. You assume the role of the hero, Atreyu. Find and bring back the Auryn to the Childlike Empress, who rules Fantasia. You must do this before it is too late and save everyone/ everything from The Nothing!

Hey, just a hop skip and a jump, done, right!!!

You start at the temple of a Thousand Doors, only six left now. The rest are already gone. You must complete each world -- they each have a different challenge to complete in order to get all ten Power Balls.

The Worlds

The Mountain of Destiny: the Power Balls are not always easy to find. The characters you meet are very interesting. There are transporters to pop you here and there. When you see the spider in the cage, there is no need to do anything, but you may find an Easter Egg.

Gaya's Lava Dungeon: the Power Balls are easier to find here, but the path is tricky. This is where you burn to learn. Fall and try again. This was my first world completed, before the Fellowship.

Singing Tree Country: this part has a sound puzzle. Some say it is their favorite world. It is very different from the first two worlds.

The Wandering Mountain: from here you have a game within a game -- the Gears of Urwerk. I can only say that the Chompers in the movie (Galaxy Quest) are easier to run through. Then you get to do some really neat stuff. Jump high, jump faster.

The Oracle -- the Matrix -- not? You will be judged on how well you have completed the previous worlds. Note: you must have all ten Power Balls from each of the four worlds to continue on!!!!!!!!

The Labyrinth of Time: since you do not know which Auryn is the real one, you need to collect all fifty of them. Just a run through the park. In this world, turn the sound up and just have a blast. Your left hand is twitching and your right index finger is popping on the mouse. Take a wild ride.

The short cutscene at the end is great! Fantasia will now re-flourish to new beauty and to the magnificence of what it once was!!!!

Game Play

The game is well suited to kids of all ages. The arcade-style first person, real-time 3D technology gives the player total navigational freedom. It is not like American McGees Alice, with the bad bosses chasing you. It is more like Grim Fandango with a few jumps to do. For the most part, you can play at you own speed.

Note: You can play at your own speed, but you cannot stop.

You say, what?

You must get all ten Power Balls in each world if you want to enter the Labyrinth. You may move on to another world with only five Power Balls, but you need all ten from each world to get to this last world. Say you get Five Power Balls and then leave the level. When you come back to get the rest of the Power Balls, you will have to start that world again. This is the Big Hook!!!

I think this may be the Hook that originally brought a few Boomers to put the game back, unfinished, on the shelf -- myself included. This same (Hook), when made into a Quest, had a few Boomers unable to put the game to rest for the night. They would leave their computers on all night and return to the game the next day, so as not to have to start again.

You see you do not pick the game saves. At certain points in each of the worlds, you hit a bright light save point. This does not, however let you go and hit “Esc” and come back the next day; you will have to start that world again.

Then again, when presented with a mission to complete this game with a fellowship of a few great Boomers, I wanted to help complete it so much that I did eat a few times at the keyboard diner. I did not however go so far as to leave the computer on at night, though this does work for some.

Now no one else will have to do that, once the complete walkthrough is done. This is a gift to everyone. Yes, that was our Quest, to write the complete walkthrough on this game -- all six worlds and Easter Eggs.

The Nuts and Bolts

This game can be played on Win 98 to XP, Ok!!!!Graphics and Sound:32MB DirectX 8.0 Compatible 3D Video and 8.0 Compatible Sound card.Memory/Space:128Mb/256Mb Ram and 700 MB of free hard drive.Note:If Win 2000/XP then enable administrator rights to install the game.Interface:Mouse/Keyboard:Standard, on W,S,A,D, on keyboard. Mouse is for direction. Spacebar to jump. Add in the shift key to super jump. Esc is, well, escape back to menu -- or in this game, back to the Temple first, then to exit the game. You may or may want to!!!Game play: you can do a full install and play this game with no disk needed to restart. Run it from your hard drive, from your start menu.

Best Always, Rick

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" If you decide not to chose, You still have made a choice"....Getty Lee

Hey Rckasea, thanks for a much-anticipated, accurate review! Like you, I've been trying to figure out what makes this game so appealing despite its frustrations. I agree that it is graphically beautiful, and the worlds are unusual enough to keep you coming back to see more.

I think your perspective as a gamer was a bit different from mine because you've played games like American McGee's Alice. For me, Auryn Quest is the most difficult game in an action style that I've ever played. I feel that I'm a much better gamer as a result of playing it, and it was fun to work at challenges and finally complete them.

That said, I think the idea of making you redo each world until you get all 10 Power Balls was a BAD design decision. People shouldn't have to leave their computers on all night so as not to lose progress. Some people even share their computers with other family members who may not want Auryn Quest running interminably in the background while they use the computer. And sometimes computers crash, wiping out all progress. The game was plenty long and plenty difficult WITHOUT this added layer of challenge.

Right now I'm STILL at the Wandering Mountain level. I've played it for hours and hours now, and I've discovered new ways to do things each time I play. The Urwerk is my favorite part of the game after Singing Trees. It's one of the most creative levels I've ever seen. Overall, the game is lovingly crafted with alternate ways to approach many of the challenges, and I really like this, especially because this flexibility is rare in the traditional adventure game.

Twice I've been within a few jumps of completing Wandering Mountain and failed. Even though I'm frustrated, I'm completely hooked on the game. Partly it's the Fellowship aspect. But I'm also really curious to see that last level. I WILL see it! Yes I will!!!!!

Morning, Thank you so much for the Internet. As once said by Max," anonymity is like a warm blanket". Me, a gamer!!!, heck I could not even save the princess in Super Mario Brothers. I am a point and click, take many notes and solve puzzles person. I have played Grim Fandango with a game pad. I used the God Mode to get through Alice. I can do two maybe three finger type. That is why my review is in three parts. This Auryn Quest game was put back on the shelf after only one half way through the first world, same reason. It was only through the needs of this fellowship of the Quest, that I completed this great game. Mr.Spock once said," The needs of the many out way the needs of the few, or the one". This is my first Keyboard/mouse game that I ever did without a WT or the 10,000 cheats stuff. I am very happy, just to be with the same people, who think that impossible means it's just hard to do!! Becky, You are most welcome to add any or all of this to my review. Best Always, rick

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" If you decide not to chose, You still have made a choice"....Getty Lee

This was the first keyboard/mouse action/adventure game I ever got through, even with walkthroughs on others, thanks to 'a little help from my friends.'

The review is great, Rick, thanks! And thank you, Becky, for doing all the correlating and hard work of putting the walkthrough together!

Like you, Becky, I found this game extremely difficult, but addictive. As one of those who had to remember to turn the sound down when leaving the game because Auryn Quest was in the background running for days at a time on the computer, I have to agree that not being able to save was a drawback.

I definitely became a better gamer on this quest though! I may even attempt to finish Broken Sword now.

Much thanks to all my fellow questors! It was a lot of fun.

We did it!

Melanie

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"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi